Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to multimedia playback, and, more specifically, to an approach for preloading and switching streaming videos.
Description of the Related Art
The Internet enables users to access various types of multimedia content, ranging from relatively short video clips to full-length movies. Video streaming is one technique by which multimedia content is presented to a user. Typically, when performing video streaming, a media player executing on a client computer acquires a portion of a video stream and begins playing the video stream before the entire video stream has been received from the content provider. For example, a media player may download the first half of a video clip and begin playing the first half of the video clip while the media player is downloading the second half of the video clip. If the second half of the video clip is downloaded before the first half of the video clip is finished playing, then the media player can continue playing the second half of the video clip without interruption.
Despite advances in computer and Internet technology, various issues continue to cause delays when playing video media. In particular, before playing a video clip that is stored locally on a computer, a small delay may be introduced when the video clip is loaded from a local disk and/or when decoding of the video clip is initiated. Additionally, when viewing a video stream via the Internet, a delay is typically experienced before any video frames are displayed to the user. For example, a certain period of time is typically required for a media player to buffer a sufficient amount of video data before playback can begin. The delay can be considerable when viewing a video stream via a low-bandwidth or high-latency connection. Further, the delays associated with streaming video may be particularly troublesome when a user attempts to view multiple, relatively short video clips in succession.
As the foregoing illustrates, a more effective way for users to view multiple video clips would be useful.